Michael was among 250 individuals from 40 states who took part in a day of advocacy organized by human rights agency International Justice Mission (IJM). Participants met with more than 210 Congressional offices to build support for strong U.S. policies to combat trafficking and slavery at home and abroad.

Michael and fellow advocates from Ohio advocated for passage of the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act, which elevates the authority of the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Office - a U.S. government agency dedicated to combating human trafficking. U.S. citizens' interest in eradicating slavery has kept the issue high on the political agenda in Washington for the past decade. In recent years, the existence of proven anti-slavery models has equipped advocates with data and success stories to encourage Members of Congress and Senators from across the political spectrum to support increased investment in anti-trafficking programs.

"As a CPS teacher at Dater Montessori, I look into the faces of my students every day and see the joy they get from learning and playing with their friends. It's hard to believe that there are millions of children around the world who instead of going to school or playing with their friends, are working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week in a brick factory, a rice mill, or a stone quarry. Knowing that it is possible to combat this unspeakable crime has given me the confidence to advocate for strong policies and funding with our elected leaders in government," said Michael.

She and other District 1 residents met with U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot in his Capitol Hill office.

All government agencies have faced budget cuts in the face of sequestration, making citizen support for US government programs to combat slavery more important than ever.

Organizations like IJM are seeing significant improvements in public justice systems protecting the poor and preventing slavery, even over short periods of time. In just four years of collaboration with local authorities in Cebu, the Philippines, IJM has seen the number of minors available in the commercial sex trade reduced by 79 percent. Private investment by Google.org for IJM's anti-slavery work in India has enabled a dramatic expansion of the organization's work there from 9 to 50 states in the country, resulting in the freeing of nearly 1,000 bonded labors in just ten months.

"With an estimated 27 million people currently in slavery today, the enormity of the problem can be overwhelming. But even one family being freed from bondage is worthy of our efforts and U.S. government investment," said Michael.

For more information about International Justice Mission visit www.ijm.org.